Us and Ours
by Hermione Jean Lupin
Summary: Just why were the security guards so defensive when Michael and the others first arrived? They had made a decent survival team. They had been crossed once by another group, and they weren't willing to have it happen again. CJ/OC, goes AU in later chapters.


C.J Barlowe was cornered. He admitted it was a stupid plan, leading the zombies that had come out of nowhere into the side entrance to the mall- that he and Bart had blocked off the previous afternoon. He kept trying to tell himself there were worse places he could be, given their situation, but it wasn't working. Now the things were practically on top of him- and he was almost out of ammo. "I could use some fuckin' help!" He called, firing off a round into one of the zombie's faces.

His coworkers Terry, Bart, Hank, and a common friend of theirs, Jolene, another all worker, were crowded into the opposite corner, also trying to fight off a horde of their own. Terry was the first to break free of his two assailants, and, after pulling Jolene back from almost getting bitten by one of hers, fired off a shot of his own that got the one C.J hadn't gotten to in the back of the head. "You're not alone there!" He replied, ducking so Jolene and Bart could both stab a zombie that had come into their vicinity with two broken edges from the broom they had snapped in half and taken one of the two pieces.

C.J side-stepped over to the table that hadn't made it to one of the temporary barricades, hooked his ankle on one of the legs and kicked it over to knock a couple of the zombies off balance. It worked for one, and while he slammed the butt of his gun into its face, he brought it back to shove the other back. He shot one if the last around him, and, even if he wouldn't admit it, was relieved to find the others had managed to get rid of their zombies and Bart shot the two remaining on his end. After a beat, he walked over. "We all in one piece?" He asked.

While Terry, Bart and Jolene nodded, showing their arms and straining their necks to prove their points, Hank looked away guiltily.

C.J growled and yanked the man closer to him. He pulled back one sleeve on the man's shirt, and then the other. The latter had a large bite mark, already swollen and bleeding heavily.

Hank looked up at C.J with fearful eyes. "It's fine, man. I can deal with it for-"

He didn't have a chance to finish his response. C.J brought up his gun and shot him square between the eyes.

Jolene yelped and turned into Terry's shoulder. Terry flinched and pulled her to him.

C.J sighed and looked at the others. "I'm done taking risks." He deadpanned before turning on his heel and heading for the escalator up to the security booth.

The others stared at his retreating back before all looking at each other and reluctantly following.

* * *

_Two Weeks Prior:_

_Jolene Masters glanced at the clock in the corner of the shop. Three more hours. She just had to deal with people for three more hours. She glanced back at the table list and heard footsteps approaching. Without looking up, she sighed and went into her usual greeting. "Hi and welcome to Rhodie's, can I-"_

_"Breathe, Jo. It's just us."_

_Jolene glanced up and sighed, looking at the two familiar faces and one stranger looking at her. She cracked a smile. "Hey! I was wondering when my favorite security guards would show up!"_

_Bart snorted. "How many other security guards do you know, Sweets?"_

_"Just you three…" She trailed off, then looked at the stranger. "… And the third isn't with you. Who's this, now?"_

_C.J Barlowe patted the stranger on the back. "This here's the new meat. Name's Terry."_

_"Hi," Terry cut in, trying not to flinch at the added nickname. He offered his hand. "And… you are?"_

_"Jolene," She shook his hand, and then pointed backward. "Ceej, I have your lunch up here. Bart, yours and Hank's are back there. Terry, I call you Terry? Just talk to Elise at the counter and she can get everything set for you."_

_"Yes, and thanks." Terry nodded._

_"Aw, look at you, getting flustered with her already." Bart teased. "But yeah, might as well let the lady know so you can join us in the daily routine."_

_"Daily routine…?" Terry questioned._

_Bart snorted and tossed his arm around Terry's shoulders. "Get with it, Kiddo. Ya see, we come here because they have the whole 'employees eat free' thing here. You wanna know why that is? Because Elise that you just heard of wants to sleep with C.J, who, in turn wants to sleep with Jo here." He explained, motioning at each of the people as they said it._

_C.J shoved Bart towards the counter, and Bart snorted before pulling Terry with him._

_Terry and Bart went toward the back of the store and C.J stayed behind with her. "He's got a point, ya know. So when the Hell are you gonna let me take you to dinner?"_

_"When both of us have better jobs, Babe. Now, go get your lunch and continue protecting all of those mall-goers."_

_"You would think that's what would win you over." C.J pointed out._

_"In another life, maybe." Jolene countered._

_C.J rolled his eyes, then leaned on the podium as he waited for the others. He noticed Elise start off a loud, horrible sounding coughing fit, but chose not to dwell on it. Hell, he had already used up most of his sick days. No sense in going over to her to ask if she was sick so he could end up getting it. _

* * *

C.J, Bart were standing over Hank's dead body- or… re-dead body, anyway. They weren't exactly sure.

Terry, who had been retching in the corner came back over. "What the fuck happened?"

C.J looked at him. "How the fuck should I know? He was all greenish like that, then went after Bart and tried to bite the guy's neck. The fuck was I supposed to do? Besides, if it's anything like that news report is saying, we had no choice. Now we have to look out for us and ours. Got it?" He put the gun he had used to shoot Hank between the eyes back in its holster.

The others exchanged worried looks. They weren't exactly sure they were happy leaving him in charge. He was the first to kill anyone who had matched the description of infected people the news was reporting. First it was a couple of shoppers, then Elise a couple of days later, then three workers from some store around them, and then what they had labelled 'the herd' had shown up, and it had been madness ever since.

So the law was laid down- watch out for them and theirs.

Two days later, a couple, Dom and Anita showed up.


End file.
